“If you love it, you can learn it”: Dave Bidini on writing
Dave Bidini performing on guitar
“It’s part of the artist’s job: to see and sense things that other people are just too busy to notice.”
"On a Cold Road" is a finalist in the Canada Reads: True Stories 2012 competition.
Author, columnist and songwriter/musician Dave Bidini‘s memoir On a Cold Road: Tales of Adventure in Canadian Rock (read an excerpt here) was recently chosen as one of five finalists for CBC’s Canada Reads: True Stories 2012 competition. The other contenders are Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat, The Game by Ken Dryden, The Tiger by John Vaillant, and Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre. Debates begin February 2012.
In Spring 2011, Dave was guest author for my course Memories into Story: Introduction to Life Writing, offered online through University of Toronto SCS in partnership with the New York Times Knowledge Network. Following is an edited version of my students’ interview with him, part of a collaborative assignment. Thank you to my Spring 2011 group for these intriguing questions.
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Award-winning Toronto Storyteller Invited to Argentina
Toronto storyteller Heather Whaley can’t wait to board a plane tomorrow for Buenos Aires, Argentina, where, by invitation from Fundación El Libro, she’ll enjoy the honour of performing at the 16th International Storytelling Festival.
“I’m over the moon,” says Heather, “and my mind is reeling with the stories, music and workshop material I will present.”
Monday, April 25th, 2011
Christine Barbetta’s memoir in “Facts & Arguments”
Christine Barbetta is enjoying some long dreamed-of success with her writing. Yesterday her poignant short memoir “My Cemetery Misdemeanour” appeared on the Globe and Mail‘s Facts & Arguments page. (The photo above will make sense when you read her story.) This follows on the heels of another of her short memoirs, “An Act of Grace,” being named a finalist in the Writers’ Union of Canada Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers. And just days ago she was thrilled to learn that she’s been awarded a writer’s grant from the Writers’ Community of Durham Region. I asked Christine to share some background on her writing and reflect on this bounty of encouraging developments:
Friday, March 25th, 2011
